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2017 Women's Match Racing World Championship heading to Helsinki, Finland

22nd May 2016
2017 Women's Match Racing World Championship heading to Helsinki, Finland Credit: Mick Anderson

World Sailing has announced that the NJK Sailing Center, Finland has been selected to host the 2017 Women's Match Racing World Championship.

Renowned for its Match Racing pedigree, the NJK Sailing Center in Helsinki will host the 2017 Women's Match Racing World Championship boasting a sailing arena located close to the city centre providing excellent viewing opportunities for spectators.

Together with The Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation and the Finnish Olympic Committee, NJK runs a training centre for elite sailors and has previously hosted the inaugural Youth Match Racing World Championship in 2014. It is also set to hold the first round of the 2016 Women's International Match Racing Series in June.

Head of Events at World Sailing, Alastair Fox said, "In 2014, NJK was chosen to host the first ever Youth Match Racing World Championship and it was a very successful and well run event. World Sailing is confident the NJK Sailing Center can repeat the same success with the Women's Match Racing World Championship and the close race areas to the capital city will draw in spectators to watch and support the crews."

Chair of the Match Racing Committee, Liz Baylis, said, "The Evaluation Panel had the difficult task of choosing between three excellent bids and Helsinki came out on top. With Finland's rich culture in match racing, including a medal performance in the 2012 Olympics, we expect nothing short of an exceptional regatta with great community support and excellent sailing.”

The 2017 Women's Match Racing World Championship will take place in Finland in a year in which the country celebrates its 100th anniversary of independence.

Applications for the host venue opened in July 2015 with the Evaluation Panel reviewing all received applications. The World Sailing's Board of Directors then endorsed the recommendation made by the Panel.

The selection of the NJK Sailing Center is subject to a successful site visit and satisfactory contractual arrangements.

Dates will be confirmed and released for the regatta in the near future.

Published in Match Racing

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About Match Racing

A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head.

In yacht racing, it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consisting of 2, 3 or 4 boats compete together in a team race, with their results being combined.

A match race consists of two identical boats racing against each other. With effective boat handling and clever use of wind and currents, a trailing boat can escape the grasp of the leader and pass. The leader uses blocking techniques to hold the other boat back. This one-on-one duel is a game of strategy and tactics.

About the World Match Racing Tour

Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous champions include Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Taylor Canfield (USA), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Torvar Mirsky (AUS), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Jesper Radich (DEN), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Ian Williams (GBR). Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors